Workout Wednesday: Fast reps, long recovery
A swim set you can use at any point in your season.
Fast reps with long recovery in the pool have a place in your training year-round. From a long-term point of view this workout improves efficiency; from a short-term viewpoint it’s a good way to maintain anaerobic fitness when you are tapering.
- 10 minutes — moderate effort freestyle. Break down your stroke and work on one element at a time for approx. 2 min each
- 6 – 8 x 25 m just short of max. pace. Do 5 min of easy stroke work between reps
The first thing to understand is that this isn’t an anaerobic workout. It is true speed work with the aim of developing efficiency at speed. It requires long recovery because when you do this work every rep has to be fresh so technique is not undermined.
While you’ll huff and puff for a few seconds after each rep, the overall impact of this workout isn’t too significant. You can treat it as a specific recovery session, as a useful tool to maintain sharpness during a taper or between races, or a chance to brush up on technique during your off-season.
